The Cure, whose enduring career is now entering its fourth decade, is currently out on the road with an L-Acoustics K1/K2 system supplied by London-based Britannia Row Productions, who have been with singer/guitarist Robert Smith and his bandmates since almost the very beginning.

Aside from a few short jaunts and various one-offs at major festivals, “The Cure Tour 2016”— which played 33 shows in North America this spring and is now journeying through 34 shows in 17 European countries — marks the first real outing for the band since the release of its 13th studio album, 4:13 Dream, and subsequent tour in 2008.

For this year’s worldwide tour, Britannia Row added a large quantity of new L-Acoustics products to its arsenal of gear, including K1, K1-SB, Kara, ARCS II, ARCS Wide, X8 and 5XT enclosures, plus the manufacturer’s new KS28 reference subwoofers and LA12X amplified controllers.

Working with the group every step of the way, much as it has since 1979, is UK audio provider Britannia Row, which fielded a full audio system for North America rather than pick up a stateside PA. FOH engineer Paul Corkett, who’s respectively engineered and co-produced two Cure albums with bandleader Robert Smith, explained, “Robert puts a lot of time and attention into rehearsals, listens to everything and he’s very hands-on and articulate about what he wants, so I think he wanted to carry one consistent rig with him.” ...

While the concerts throughout the tour are not quiet, they aren’t a start-to-finish aural onslaught either. “I figure we’re running 98 to 102 dB, but it’s a three-hour set,” said Corkett, “and when its seated, you can’t run it that hot all the time and go 100-plus. It’ll take you out—but the diehard fans go for it upfront; binge on the bass bins!”

Corkett prefers mixing the band’s earliest songs (“They were written for a three-piece, so they’re a joy to mix because you can have space”), but no matter the song, he has one singular goal, handed down by Smith: “His guide to me was make it sound exciting. He listens to everything, so I certainly know if I’ve gone wrong.”

Mac explained the creative process behind bringing the production to life, and how they dazzled the expectations of die-hard Cure fans: “It’s important to note that Robert Smith was very hands-on with the design for the show; he’s been as much a member of our creative team as he has a band member. When Robert and I first discussed the design, we wanted a very simple look, where the set is the lighting rig and it’s a very clean, uncluttered stage. We started off with the idea for a curved screen at the back of the stage, added a curved riser and pulled the ends of the truss back to extenuate the curved look. The different lighting looks we used was kept simple, but precise and well-executed, for happy songs we used bright colourful lighting, and for moody songs, we adjusted the lighting accordingly.”

PRG XL’s event services co-ordinator, Ben Hornshaw performed the role of lighting programmer, and worked closely with Mac and Robert on all the live shows and in the pre-production stage...As Ben reeled off the array of lighting products on show, it was clear that The Cure tour was a spectacularly creative production, with a menagerie of different looks and lots of punch.

Mac discussed how he has worked with The Cure for separate periods; the first beginning back in 1978, and then from 2011 until now. PRG XL Video account director Jon Cadbury co-ordinated the supply of lighting for the tour, Mac emphasised Jon’s relationship with the band: “One of the main reasons PRG XL supply The Cure is down to Jon, he worked with them in the days of Samuelson’s, before they became PRG, and the tour has stayed with Jon ever since.”Jon Cadbury added: “We’ve supported The Cure since 1985, when I was introduced to Mac and the band by their then tour manager, during a tour of Europe and America, promoting ‘the Head on the Door’ album. To have such loyalty from one act over a thirty year period is both humbling and gratifying in equal measures.”

Dan Large performed the multi-functional role of video crew chief, content assembler and director/operator for the show...Dan discussed how the video content for the show was an equal split between live action, and predetermined content: “Much of the video content we used for the show was legacy footage from previous tours. Robert had a very close involvement with me assembling all the footage for the show, his attention to detail is amazing, and I have notes from him suggesting changes to video content, which literally use frame references as waypoints. From the outset, it was clear that Robert would accept nothing short of perfection, some of the transitions between content were edited hundreds of times until Robert and Mac were both totally happy with it.”

Ever since the late 80s, I'd had the impression that the Cure's lighting set was massive! It is obvious that Robert is involved in every detail of a Cure show, pre-planning the lighting concept etc.